Music Questions I’ve answered on Quora. Part 4

Quora is an online question and answer (Q & A) platform. It allows people to seek answers from others in their community. Here are the questions and answers I’ve provided on Quora. Perhaps you will find an answer to your Q & A.

I think it depends on a few things. I personally think private
voice lessons prepares a child for singing better than a children’s choir. I
have performed in at least three different choirs/choruses throughout my life
and while they are great for building a community and having fun, nothing
compares to private voice lessons.

I think the question should fall along does your child exhibit
behaviors that warrant private voice lessons. For example, do they like to sing
in the car; are they already performing (such as they are already in a choir);
do they exhibit the behaviors that make you feel they would be good performing
on their own? If the answer is yes, then it might be time for private lessons.

Look back at famous singers and notice that they oftentimes
started out young and you can find old videos of them being soloist.

How you sound to yourself and how
you sound to others is completely different. There are times when it is the
opposite. You think you sound great and everyone else thinks you sound
terrible. I would get a good piece of equipment to record yourself. I
personally like the Yeti microphone (~$100). Record yourself and listen to it.
You may find you have a different viewpoint.

I get it. You want to support your child but then you also don’t your child
to focus on something that he/she might not be good at. On the other hand, your
child might be a bit too young to know whether or not they are any good. Your
voice changes tremendously over the years. With voice lessons your child will
get better as well.

Perhaps the genre of music isn’t for them (My voice isn’t meant for some
types of music and that is OK).

The most important thing I think is.. if your child likes it and enjoys
it then why stop. Think of all the not-so-great things children get into.

The best thing about taking
lessons, these days, is that there are more options for you if you are on a
tight budget. Online lessons are a great way to get started with taking lessons
and are often cheaper than in-person or studio rates.

I would look for studios that offer packages, while you have to pre-pay,
you will be able to take lessons over months vs weeks if you were to pay the
same price.

There is nothing wrong with starting with looking at books. The question
I would come back with, how much technical stuff have you really learned from
books without a teacher?

As others mentioned, never too late. What you will find is that your
voice probably has changed and songs you may have sung in your earlier years
may not be right for you now. There are things you can do (most importantly key
changes). I have seen people of all ages take voice lessons.

One of the first things I did when I started songwriting was to analyze
songs that I liked. I would look at things such as key signatures, form
(A-B-C-AA or verse-chorus-bridge). I would look at the chord progression.

Basically, you are trying to get a volume of ideas in your head. What
are some things you like that are done that you might want to copy. I find
evaluating all kinds of music was beneficial. For example, I found a need chord
progression in a musical that I then incorporated into a do-wop style style.